Photo Resources:
- Find a photo of your building from 1980
- 1940’s New York (maps and photos)
- NYC Municipal Archives Gallery
- NY Public Library Digital Collections
- Includes postcards and maps
- Google Streetview archives (only back to 2007)
Data:
- Social explorer allows you to make charts and maps with Census and American Community Survey (5 year) data.
- Compare years, regions, etc.
- Accessing Social Explorer through Hunter College will allow you greater functionality of use, and you can upgrade your membership so you can continue to use these upgraded functions at home.
- Infoshare draws from a wider range of information sources than Social Explorer, including “population statistics, immigration trends, socio-economic indicators, birth and death data, hospitalizations, local trade data,” etc. Read more about Infoshare here and basic information about how to use both Social Explorer and Infoshare here.
US Census – American Fact Finder
- The US Census tool for exploring census data.
- Similar content to Social Explorer and Infoshare, plus some additional economic data – such as Economic Census 2012
- Info on Census historical data
NYC OASIS (Open Accessible Space Information System)
- Shows NYC land use data in map form, including historical data.
And more data…
- New York Department of City Planning Population Division Website with publications, especially The Newest New Yorkers(2013)
- New York City Census FactFinder
- Census Bureau Website
- New York Department of Education data
- Bytes of the Big Apple, “software, data and geographic base map files for the City of New York.” (These are big files, but there’s some great stuff, including PLUTO land use and zoning data)
- NYC Open Data and presentation about what’s available in and how to use NYC Open Data.
- I Quant NYC is a blog telling stories using NYC Open Data
- Criminal Court Summonses in New York City, a 2014 guide
- InvestigateNYC, a website that combines some of the resources put out by New York City and explains how to use these resources.
Neighborhood History:
NYPL Neighborhood Research Suggestions
Local Newspapers –
In addition to neighborhood news, try searching street names, businesses, addresses, and people’s names in the newspaper archives to see what you can turn up.
- Brooklyn Public Library Historical Newspaper Archives available online
- NYPL Newspaper Databases – some must be searched on microfiche or from library computers, others are available online with a NYPL library card:
- Daily News– 1998-present (through Newspaper Source database)
- New York Post– 2000-present (through Custom Newspapers database)
- New York Observer– 1999-present (through Custom Newspapers database)
- New York Times– 1995-present (through Custom Newspapers database)
- Queens Library digital collections (newspapers, photos, etc)
NYPL Oral History Archive
Buildings Research:
- This map provides a visual representation of the date of construction of every building in NYC. It may not be exact for the building, but can help you figure out the general neighborhood history!
City Realty Neighborhood Stats
- Real estate prices for some neighborhoods, including maps & graphs over time
Brooklyn Library Introduction to Buildings Research
NYPL Guide to Researching Your Home’s History (or any other building)
